Rising CO2 Levels Won't Just Impact the Poles: Tropical Seas Also at Risk of Warming

Warming temperatures don't just affect the poles; they're a global problem. Scientists have found that rising CO2 levels won't just have a lasting impact on mid-to-high latitudes. Instead, the warmer temperatures may also affect the tropics.

Previous studies have actually indicated that the tropics won't be affected all that much by rising temperatures. This new study, though, seems to indicate otherwise. Scientists have found that tropical sea surface temperatures were warmer during the early-to-mid Pliocene, which is an interval spanning about five to three million years ago.

Studying the past is important when it comes to learning about present warming trends. The Pliocene, in particular, is of interest to scientists because CO2 concentrations at the time were about 400 parts per million, which is a level that was reached last summer due to human activity. The higher CO2 levels in the Pliocene have been associated with a warmer world and now, it seems as if the tropics were also affected. The researchers used a combination of geochemical records in order to reconstruct sea surface temperature in the tropics in the past.

"These results confirm what climate models have long predicted-that although the greenhouse gases cause greater warmer at the poles they also cause warming in the tropics," said Richard Pancost, one of the researchers, in a news release. "Such findings indicate that few places on Earth will be immune to global warming and that the tropics will likely experience associated climate impacts, such as increased tropical storm intensity."

That said, more research needs to be conducted in order to confirm these findings. Reconstructing the climate of the past is difficult, and the tools used have limitations. However, the new study does reveal how warming temperatures may not just affect the poles, but may also affect the rest of the globe.

The findings are published in the journal Nature Geoscience.